I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season! I hope you were able to spend time with people you like spending time with.
New chapter, though a little short. As much as I have an idea of what I want to happen, I struggle to write Umbridge. Getting that right balance of platitudes, racism, hatred, and political speech in her way of speaking is so difficult for me. That is just not how I operate so it's hard to match. I tried my best (I had to have a list of her quotes up next to me just to try and have a reference). Hopefully I captured her nastiness. As I move forward I hope to get better. Still no idea the frequency of updating. I am leaning to every two weeks now. But that is all based on motivation and follow through which is never consistent for me. Enjoy
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Harry did not have Umbridge for the first couple of days, which was an admitted relief. Bad enough he had to deal with counterparts his own age. It seems his little speech on the first night had helped from preventing public confrontation. The rest of the school had obviously heard of it, so any complaint or comment was left behind for suspicious glances and whispering. Fortunately that was something he was well used to. He took it in stride as he went to his classes.
It was the first week of OWL year for him, so each class started with a speech about how difficult the year would be. Each professor tried their best to impress the fear and importance of the exams on their students. Professor McGonagall actually spent her entire first lesson on the subject before assigning two feet on chapter 1. Professor Flitwick had a speech about the difficulty of the exams that went on for near an hour before he bothered to discuss the summer assignment. Even Professor Binns said a few words on the subject, though Harry only learned that after the fact because he had fallen asleep and been informed by Hermione. Snape took a different route. He swept into class with his normal flourish, glaring at his students.
"I believe that we are all overjoyed that this will be the last year with each other for most who sit in this room. While I believe that the OWLS are woefully inadequate for measuring skill in this field, still most of you will not be able to pass those meager expectations. The potion for today is on the board." The class, well trained after five years, leapt at the command. Harry had been nervous, knowing that the NEWT levels required an O in your potions OWL. Alex had calmed him slightly when he expressed this. It was true that Snape did not think the exams were sufficient and ignored the regular grading standards. By Snape standards, an EE in his class is an O in the OWLS. Harry was a fairly consistent A but he was slowly working his way up to regular EE in the class.
Hermione was already fretting over the exams as if she was supposed to take them tomorrow. Harry shuddered at the thought of how she would be at the end of the year. So he worked on settling into the new normal of his classes. He was still working on that when he walked Defense.
There was a low hum of the students talking as they unpacked their bags for class. Harry pulled out his books with a look of disgust. He had gone through the book and found absolutely nothing of worth in its pages. It seemed that the writer was like one of those old ladies who sat by the phone all day and phoned the police whenever the neighbor's dog peed on their daisies (like Number 15 did). To the author, it seemed the only solution that existed in the man's mind was to call aurors. The door swung open, causing him to jump.
"Good morning class." Umbridges whiney, sweet tone rang out through the class room. There was a quiet murmur as some of the other students demurred, settling down into their chairs. "Oh no, that won't do." There was an entirely false shock in her tone that made Harry's hair stand up on end.
"When I say 'good morning class' I expect you to respond 'good morning Professor Umbridge.'" She turned a sharp eye on the class. There was a few people whom responded to her request, while the rest of the students stared at her impudently. "Come now, I know you can do better. Once again, good morning class."
"Good morning Professor Umbridge." Hatred radiated through the whole population. There were not many ways that a teacher could ensure that every single student hated them from minute one. However, she had managed to hit the exact way to do so. Even Snape, whom had managed to frighten every student within minutes, had not managed to get to full hatred before a couple of weeks in. Even then, it was not universal. Yet Harry knew deep in his bones that there was not a single person in this room that wouldn't hate being spoken to like that.
"Very good." She seemed supremely satisfied. Harry almost snorted at the ignorance. "Now in these last few years you have had very poor examples of Professors in this subject. The ministry is interested in ensuring that Hogwarts provides the right kind of education to its students. I am here to ensure you get that education. Now please place your wands in your bags and we will review the class objectives." There was a heavy silence of confusion. Slowly the students moved to follow the order while she stared down benevolently. Harry decided to place his wand in his robe pocket instead, not comfortable with leaving it too far from his hand. Living with Snape had been an eye opener on that. The man was adamant that you are never to be outside of arms reach of your wand (the man stored his in his sleeve in a way that Harry did not understand). He often admonished Alex and eventually Harry if they were without their wands as they wandered the house. Luckily Umbridge had turned to the board to make the chalk write out the course objectives.
Understand the principles of defensive magic
Learn when defensive magic can be used legally
Put the use of defensive magic into context
"Now, we will begin in chapter one. Please write down the course objectives and read through the introductory chapter." The class rustled to open the books and a silence fell in. Harry glared at his page, very confused. His blood still boiled at the way she had spoken to the class. He was also uncomfortable as he read through the class objectives but he could not figure out how it was bugging him. He felt Hermione shifting beside him. He looked up to see her hand in the air. Umbridge looked from her desk with an oily benevolence.
"Yes miss-?"
"Granger." Hermione's voice was sharp and jarringly bold. Harry's stomach churned because he knew that tone was not the usual acquiescent that she used with professors. "I have a question about the course objectives."
"Really?" Umbridge gave a little giggle. "They are hardly complex. Perhaps you should read the introduction chapter."
"I have read the entire text." Hermione said primly. "My question does pertain to what the text also expounds on." Now she had the attention of the entire class.
"Very well." Umbridge simpered.
"There is no mention in the course objectives about the use of magic to defend ourselves. Similarly the text book does not have any examples of spells for which to practice."
"Why would you need to practice defensive magic? You are in no danger. You are here to learn about defense, not how to fight."
"So we aren't learning any magic?" Dean interrupted.
"Of course we will be learning magic, dear." She hummed with a smile. "However, an effective theory based curriculum is what is approved by the ministry. We hardly need a school that is having its students spending their valuable time shouting out hexes. Instead we will use the knowledge of those who know the subject and learn what the general public needs to know. This will ensure all students receive a consistent and safe education"
"If we do not practice, how can you expect us to be able to perform when we actually need to use them?" Hermione barked, indignant. The smile on Umbridge's face immediately turned to a grimace. But she was quick to turn it back into that frog smile.
"Miss Granger, I remind you to raise your hand and address me as Professor or Madam Umbridge." She banged her hand on the desk in a move that was harder than the tone she had been using. "Now. Theoretical knowledge is needed to provide the foundation of practical skills, don't you agree?" Hermione nearly went red at the condescension. "Students need to fully grasp the theoretical before any practical skills are practiced. Indeed, they also need to learn the dangers and proper application of any defensive spells. Most of you will not need to apply these skills, so there is no need at the moment to practice such aggressive spells that could place you in danger. Isn't that better, dear? It is for your safety that the ministry has found theoretical knowledge to be the primary focus of this class."
"But we will need these skills." Hermione stated.
"I know there have been . . rumors of danger that have been spread by some . . . subversive elements." She glared at Harry, who stared blankly back at her. "However, the Ministry has worked hard to dispel this effort. You are not in danger from Dark wizards. The auror department is extremely skilled and is capable of protecting everyone."
"What is their crime prevention rate?" Harry finally spoke up. Umbridge turned to him in surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"You are saying that the Auror will protect us so we do not need to protect ourselves. . . ever." He enunciated the words in a slow drawl. Damn, he was mimicking Snape again. "So that means they must prevent all types of crime before they happen. If that is true, well that is an impressive claim. Do we have the numbers of the crimes they were able to stop before the victim had to defend themselves?" He watched as Umbridge turned the same pink as her cardigan. He started again before she could get a word out.
"In fact, if they are perfect then we should see that there was no murders that happened. Not a single person dead at the hands of another. I would have thought I would have seen that in the papers. The Aurors should be boasting about that. The minister normally would be."
"Mr. Potter, you-"
"Not just murder." He pressed on. "No assaults, no rape, no theft or burglary."
"Mr. Potter stop-"
"No child abuse, no domestic abuse, no kidnapping, harassment."
"Mr. Potter be quiet!" She shouted. They stared at each other, Harry calm and proud, Umbridge furious and shaking. Hermione snorted lightly beside him and Harry had to resist the urge to turn and wink at her.
"I have never had to deal with such rudeness."
"Then you have clearly never had to work with teens before." He snarked back. There was a low chuckle that rippled through the class. The silence after his interruption had been tense. Harry was not one to directly confront his professors.
"Detention Mr. Potter. For speaking out of turn." She had stopped the fake smiling. He nodded in easy acceptance, he had realized where this would likely go once he had started listing out crimes. That seemed to make her more annoyed, since he was not upset about it.
"Now. This is exactly the type of thing the Ministry is concerned about at Hogwarts. Rebelliousness needs to be controlled. Spreading of misinformation and rumors to try and disrupt the rule of law and tradition." She swept her eyes over the room. "Mr. Potter wants the world to believe the ministry is incompetent. That you are in danger from evil forces that have long been defeated. However, there is no evidence that anything like that is happening. That is why the Minister has taken an interest in what you are learning in this institution. We must get back to the basics. Back to tradition and sanity.
"I will not allow this class to turn into chaos. I will not allow for such talk about false dangers. There is no Dark Lord that has risen from the grave to kill us all." She rapped her wand against her palm in unspoken threat.
"I did not mention a word Voldemort." Harry pointed out.
"Another detention." Umbridge smiled smugly. Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing else. He had made his point and was more than satisfied. She took a deep breath and turned back to the other students in the class, fake smile in place. "Now we have wasted enough time on this nonsense. Open your books and read the introductory chapter. I will take no more questions."
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Severus swept into his office at the end of the week, trying to ignore the pounding headache that had been growing since the first day of classes. There were numerous complaints across his students about the new professor. Defense had always been a favorite as it is intrinsically engage content and physically fun. It had been one of the classes where students actually care, which was one of the reasons he requested to actually teach it. If he had to stay in the school he would rather teach students that want to be there. But he was not lucky enough to get the position, no matter his many attempts.
The fact that the kids cared about the class meant when the professor was poor, they had something to say about it. It seemed that Umbridge was setting up everyone to fail. The first through fourth years would likely be okay. Their education would suffer ultimately but that would not be directly reflected in the exams which would define their final qualifications. Fifth and up would have the burden of compensating on their own time.
If they did not plan on taking DADA after their OWL Level, they should just ignore it. Read last year's text and complete the minimum homework expectations. Their OWL will be low but ultimately inconsequential so effort was better spent elsewhere.
If they did want to continue, self-study and group study would be required. Records of previous textbooks were available as well as a recommended reading list from him. Recommendations were given to form study groups for performing previously tested on spells (OWL/NEWT records and historical exams can be requested from the ministry on demand). 7th years were also a source. Rooms to practice could be requested through him. Professor Flitwick also had office hours and stated that he was willing to answer questions outside of his official profession.
All of these were what he was getting back from announcing in his house meeting that night. Along with a lengthy speech that boiled down to "if you choose to try and mess with the new Professor don't get caught." That was going to be a mess. Some of his students were going to see value is sucking up to her. She was an easy mark by most definitions. High profile, connected, easily flattered, and hungry for control. It had some of the older years practically salivating. A few of the smarter ones recognized that an easy mark was also an stooge who would end up under the blade for those higher up. They would avoid her, after all, there was no way that this type of ham fisted approach wasn't going to blow up at some point. They would not want to be standing nearby when everything crumbled. Umbridge was not patient or smart enough to avoid the fall and he suspected by the end of the year her name would be mud.
There were, of course, those who were ignoring the political implications for their immediate displeasure of the woman. His Slytherins were unlikely to be boldly antagonistic against her. However, they were also not the type to just accept the suffering like a HufflePuff. Hence his warning to not get caught. His students were not the immediate targets to her ire, but they could be. No, the main target would be the Gryffindor's. As the obvious favorite of the Headmaster (to his continuing annoyance) they would be the main target of Fudge and there for Umbridge. They would also be the most prone to talking back and pushing the limits.
It made him worry about Harry. The boy was getting better by his observation but he was still fragile. For all he seemed calm and not unhappy, he was a boy who went through trauma. He had not been able to come back in contact with the boy since their last meeting at Grimmuald Place. He had the boy in class but no reason to keep the boy back.
He resisted the urge to slump into his chair. He also worried about his other student he was dealing with issue. Young people who had a hard time with just the standard stresses of schools and socializations. Now they had to deal with all of that with the additional pressures of the political infighting that was going to be happening between the adults. The people whom they are expecting to protect, comfort, and direct them would be splitting attention. For good reason, as every professor was in lock step that they would be a barrier between the Ministry plant and the students. In his experience, less attention for any child resulted in problems.
He let out a large groan into the darkened room. Every year he was sure was going to be more miserable than the last.
This year was going to be more miserable than all of the previous year's combine.
"Just kill me now."